Sewing machine attachment



Nov. 27, '1945. H. H. RUSSELL l SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed nec; 2e", 1942 Patented Nov. 27, 1945 SEWING MACHINE ATTACHlVIENT Herbert H. Russell, New Haven, Conn., assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application December 26, 1942, Serial No. 470,147

20 Claims.

This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment, and more particularly to a sewing machine attachment designed to make a ruie or gather in the material fed to the machine.

In devicesk of this character it has been desirable to provide for various adjustments, not only to make nner or coarser gathers or ruiiles, but also to provide for the spacing apart of the rufles, that is, to vary the number of sewing machine stitches between adjacent ruiiies. In the past it has been more or less customary to provide a rullier with such adjustments that it may be set to make a rutile at every stroke of the needle bar, and at every sixth stroke of the needle bar, and at every twelfth stroke. Usually the attachments may also be adjusted so vthat plain sewing will be effected without any rules. It has been found that in many instances it would be desirable to provide for additional adjustments so that a range of Work could be performed in addition to the one-stitch, six-stitch or twelve-stitch ruiiles.

Also in the past the rulers have in most cases been provided with ratchet wheels having deep and shallow teeth, these teeth controlling the engagement of an actuating pawl with 'a shoulder on the actuating lever of the rufllng blade. Such a construction required a different ratchet wheel or the equivalent thereof for each different setting of the attachment, so that if it were to have more than the three ruiliing adjustments referred to above, namely, one-stitch, six-stitch and twelve-stitch, an excessive number of ratchet wheels would have to be employed.

Gne object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine ruiiler which may be attached to the ordinary household sewing machine, which has a wide range of adjustment.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a sewing machine ruffler having a wide range of adjustments for various types of work, and so constructed that the adjustments may be performed quickly and easily even by an untrained operator.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine rufiler of novel construction, and one which will have a Wide variety of adjustments, which may be readily made While the attachment is in place upon the sewing machine, and which will not require removal and replacement of parts in the attachment.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a sewing machine attachment which is capable of making one ruiile only in a large number of stitches, and is also capable of making a ruiile for each number of stitches which is an even factor of this number. That is to say, if the greatest range of the device is a ,twelve-stitch ruiiler, it can also be set to make a ruie at every stitch, every second stitch, every third stitch, every fourth stitch, or every sixth stitch.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a sewing machine attachment embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the reverse side of the device;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the attachment;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 'I-'I of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevational View of the rotatable disk employed in the device.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown a ruiiling attachment comprising a frame member IIJ having an attaching member II for attachment to the presser bar of the sewing machine in the usual manner. Carried by this frame also is the usual separator blade I2, with which cooperates the movable ruling blade I3.

The frame also is provided with an upstanding arm Ill mounting a pivot I5 upon Which is rotatably mounted a disk member I6. Also pivoted at I5 is the operating lever Il designed to be connected with the needle bar of the sewing machine in the usual manner, so that the member will be reciprocated or oscillated as the needle bar moves up and down. Upon the operating lever I 'I is secured a resilient pawl member I3, the end of which is designed to engage in a row of openings adjacent the periphery of the rotary disk-I6 to actuate the latter in a step-by-step movement about its pivot. A stop pawl I9 is secured on the arm I4, and is designed to cooperate with the openings in the disk I6 to resist any tendency of the disk to move in a reverse direction. The pawl ISmay be secured in place by suitable means such as the rivet 2l, and it will be seen that the stop pawl I9 is at the face of the disk upon which the pawl I8 is located. It will also be understood that these pawls are resilient, so that their free ends may readily move out of the openings in the disk I6 and slide along the surface thereof upon relative movement of the disk and pawls in the proper direction.

I6 opposite that Also pivoted on the pvot I5 is a lever 23 to the lower end of which at 24 is pivoted the carrier 25 of the ruilling blade I3'. Formed integrally with the lever 23 is a plate26 disposed flatwise against one side of the disk I6, and provided with a plurality of openings 21. Secured to the face of the plate 2G opposite the disk Iii is a plate 23 of open rectangular form, the upper and lower sides of which are provided with offset guide flanges 29 and 33, which, as shown more particularly in Figs. 4 and 5, are spaced from the plate 25 to provide a guideway in which is slidably mounted a block 3I, so that this block may move lengthwise of the plate 26, or to the right and left, as shown in Fig. 4.

The block BI carries a sleeve 32 within which is mounted a plunger 33 carrying upon its inner end a pin 34 designed to pass through one of the openings 21 of the plate 26. A spring 35 reacts between a shoulder 36 on the plunger 33 and a shoulder 31 on the sleeve 32 to normally urge the plunger toward the plate 26. A knob 38 is secured on the plunger 33 by which the plunger may conveniently be pulled outwardly against the tension of the spring 35 to move the pin 34 out of one of. the openings 21 and adjust the block 3l along the plate 26 so as to position the pin in another of the openings 21. The knob may be conveniently secured in place by forming an annular recess 39 in the plunger 33, and placing in this recess a resilient split ring 40, so that the ring will be retained in the recess 39 and engage a portion of the knob to hold the latter in place.

The operating arm I1 is provided with al portion 42 extending beyond the pivot I5, and to this portion is pivoted a slotted cam 43 having cam faces 44 (Figs. l and 5) substantially intermediate its ends. The slot in the member 43 is adapted to embrace the sleeve 32 between the flanges 29 and 3G and the knob 38. It will be apparent from Fig. l that, upon each downward stroke of the needle bar, the cam member 43 will be raised and the cam portion 44 thereof will serve to move the knob 38 outwardly and move the plunger 33 away from the plate 26. Likewise, upon each upward stroke of the needle bar the cam member 43 will be moved downwardly, thus permitting the plunger 33 to be again pressed toward the plate 2B by the spring 35. It may here be stated that the lower portion 45 of the cam member 43, as shown in Fig. 5, is somewhat thicker than the upper portion 4S, the two portions being joined by the inclined cam faces 44.

The actuating lever 23 of the ruling blade is provided with an offset upwardly projecting arm 41 designed to be engaged by a screw 48 adjustably threaded in a sleeve 49 secured to the operating lever i1, so that upon the down stroke of the needle bar and actuating lever I1, the lower end of the screw 48 will contact the upper end of the arm 41 and return the ruflling blade I3 to its original position after an operating stroke thereof. It will be understood that the adjustment of the screw 48 in the sleeve 49 serves to. adjust the stroke of the rullling blade so as to make a wide or narrow gather or ruffle. That is to say, the length of the stroke which is given to the 'ruiiling blade in a rearward direction by the screw 48 will determine the length of the forward stroke of the blade. It is desirable to provide some form of spring tension upon the screw 48 so that it will be held against play and against any tendency to turn. This is provided, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, by means of a resilient spring member 50 which embraces the screw 43 and the ends of which react against the edges of an opening 3| in the operating lever I1. As this member is held in place by the tendency of the free ends to expand against the edges of the opening 5I, the tension is the same in both directions, so that an equal force is exerted upon the screw, regardless of the direction in which it may tend to turn. The member 50 may have threads formed therein to receive those of the screw 48.

In the form shown, a forward or operative stroke is imparted to the ruling blade by connecting the latter to the disk I6, which, as has been described, is rotated in a stepeby-step movement by the operating lever I1. It will be recalled that the ruffling blade is carried at the lower end of the pivoted actuating lever 23, and that this lever is formed integrally with the plate 26 which lies against the face ci the rotatable disk i5, as shown in Fig. 4. The means which are provided to connect these parts consist of interengaging parts carried by the plate portion 26 of the actuating lever 23, and the disk I6, these interengaging elements being, in the form shown, the pin 34 and openings in the disk I3 with which the pin 34 engages. As shown in Fig. 8, the disk I5 is provided with a number of these openings of various sizes, go that they lie at different radial distances from the center of the disk, and are so arranged that, as the pin 34 may be set at various distances from the pivot I5 of the disk member I6, depending upon the opening 21 in which it is disposed, the pin may engage'in a greater or lesser number of these openings during one turn of the disk IG, and thus vary the number of operative strokes given to the ruling blade during one rotation of the disk.

Referring to Fig. 8, for example, it will be apparent that a large number of openings a, in this instance twelve, are arranged around the disk adjacent the periphery thereof. It is with these openings a that the pawls I8 and I9 engage, to effect step-by-Step rotation of the disk, so that the latter is given a complete rotation every twelve strokes of the needle bar. If, for example, the pin 34 is placed in the opening 21 furthest to the right, as shown in Fig. 4, which will be the opening closest to the peripheral edge of the disk I6 or the opening designated by the numeral I in Fig. 8, the pin will lie against a. solid part of the disk I6, and the plate 26 will never be connected with the disk. In this case, plain sewing will result, as no movement will be imparted to the ruflling blade. However, if the pin 34 is moved over into the next adjacent opening, or that designated by the numeral 2 in Fig, 8, the pin 34 will then engage in each of the openings a as they are brought opposite the pin, and when the disk is rotated the plate 26, lever 23 and ruffling blade I3 will be moved in an operative stroke. As the openings designated a are'the same as those with which the pawl I8 engages, a rule or gather will be formed at each stroke of the needle bar, thus making the attachment a one-stitch ruiiler.

If the pin 34 is moved over into the next adjacent opening 21, that marked with the numeral 3 on Fig. 8, it will be seen that the pin will no longer lie opposite the shorter openings a, but will lie opposite the inner ends of the longer openings designated ab. It will be seen that these openings alternate with the shorter openings a. about the periphery, so that a rule will be formed 'every second stitch of the machine instead of every stitch. In like manner the pin 34 may be moved into the next opening 22', in which position it will enter the openings designated c in Fig. 8, or, of course, in the opening abc at those radial positions where the opening c is in radial alignment with openings a and openings b. It will be seen that there are four of the openings c about the periphery of the disk i6, thus making the ruiller a three-stitch ruiiler, so that it will make four ruilies every twelve strokes of the machine. Likewise, the pin 3d may be moved into the neXt adjacent opening 2l to be in position to enter the openings marked d (or abcd), of which three are located about the periphery 'of the disk. The next opening 2l of the plate 2G registers with the two openings e of the disk I6, and the innermost opening 2l, that closest to the pivot I5, registers with the opening f, so that moving the pin Sil into these openings converts the attachment into a siX- and twelve-stitch rufler, respectively.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, as the operating lever Il is moved up and down, the disk i5 will be rotated in a step-by-step movement, thus bringing the various openings in the disk l5 into registration with the corresponding openings 21. The disk will be moved upon the upstroke of the lever Il, and at the same time the cam plate 43 will be moved downwardly, so that when an opening a, b, c, d, e or f arrives opposite the pin 36, the cam surface 4E. will have passed downwardly below the plunger 33, and will permit the pin to drop into this opening. Continued upward movement of the lever il will effect an operative stroke of the lever 23 and ruiiiing blade. As the operating lever starts downwardly, the disk i6 will be held against reverse movement by the stop pawl l, and the cam plate d3 will be moved upwardly, thus withdrawing the pin 34 from the opening in the disk l5. At this time the lower end of the screw 38 will strike the upper end of the arm lil, moving the plate 25 upwardly or in a reverse direction with respect to the disk It, thus moving the pin 34 out of registration with the opening in the disk i6 in which it was engaged, so that the pin lies opposite a solid part of the disk. Upon continued movements of the operating lever the pin will ride around upon a solid portion of the disk until an opening in the disk is again brought into registration with the pin, and a further ruiiling operation is eiiected.

It will be apparent that for operation of the rufling blade, the blade-actuating lever 23 is connected to the rotating disk i6, so that the latter positively moves the former by direct connection therewith. This connection, however, must be broken after an operative stroke in order that the ruiliing blade may be returned to its original position during the downstroke of the lever Il, and the connection remains broken until time for a subsequent operation. Therefore, by means of the single rotative member I6, I am enabled to make a large number of adjustments intermediate the closest and most widely spaced ruiiies, and these adjustments may be readily made by merely moving the slide 3i along the plate 26 so that the pin Sii rests in the proper one of the openings 2l,

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modication and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an attachment for ,sewing machines, a frame, a ruflling blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an actuating element for said blade, and interengaging means carried by said element and said rotatable member to cause said member to actuate the blade, said means comprising a Dart carried by said element and spring pressed into engagement with the means carried by said member.

2. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a rufiling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member Amounted on said frame to rotate about the pivot of said lever, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, and a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to effect actuation of the lever from said member.

3. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruiiiing blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame to rotate about the pivot of said lever, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to eiect actuation of the lever from said member, and means for engaging said pin with said member at a plurality of points spaced circumferentially around the surface of the member.

4. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruiing blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needlebar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to effect actuation of the lever from'said member, and means for engaging said pin with said member at a plurality of points spaced radially on said member.

5; A ruiiier attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruliiing blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to effect actuation of the lever from said member, and means for engaging said pin with said member at a plurality of spaced points spaced circumferentially and radially on said member.

6. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to effect actuation of the lever from said member, and manual means for withdrawing said pin from said engagement.

7. A ruiiier attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruiiling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to eiect actuation of the lever from said member,

and means operated by the needle bar for withdrawing said pin from said engagement to permit a return movement of the blade relatively to said member.

8. A rufiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a-lever pivoted to the frame, a ruilling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to elect actuation of the lever from said member, means operated by the needle bar for withdrawing said pin from said engagement to permit a return movement of the blade relatively to said member, and means for effecting return movement of the blade.

9. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruiiing blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever, said member having a plurality of series of openings therein, and said pin being adapted to be selectively engaged in the openings of a predetermined one of said series.

10. A ruiiier attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a rufing blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever, saidmember having a plurality of series of openings therein, and said pin being adapted to be selectively' engaged in the openings of a predetermined one of said series, said openings being arranged in a plurality of series circumferentially of said member, and one series being spaced radially from another series.

l1. A rufiier attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruflling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a pin carried by said lever, said member having openings therein in which the pin is adapted to be engaged, said openings being arranged in a plurality of series circumferentially of said member, and one series being spaced radially from another series, and means for moving said pin radially of said member to engage the openings of any series thereof to vary the number of movements of the ruling blade relatively to the strokes of the needle bar f of the machine.

12. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a rufiling blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an actuating element for said blade, and interengaging means carried by said element and said rotatable member to cause said member to actuate the blade, and the means on said element being adjustable radially of said rotatable member to vary the number of movements of the rufiling blade relatively to the strokes of the needle bar of the sewing machine.

13. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a ruling blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an actuating element for said blade, and interengaging means carried by said element and said rotatable member to cause said member to actuate the blade, the means on said member being spaced radially thereof, and the means on said element being adjustable radially of said member to engage any of said means.

14. A ruiiler attachment for sewing machines, comprising a frame, a lever pivoted to the frame, a ruffling blade connected to the lever, a rotary member mounted on said frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, a .pin carried by said lever and engaging said member to effect actuation of the lever from said member, said pin being movable with respect to said lever, a knob on said pin by which the latter may be manually moved, an annular recess in the pin, and a split ring seated in said recess and engaging the knob to secure the latter to the pin.

15. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a ruiiling blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an actuating element for said blade, and interengaging means carried by said element and said rotatable member to cause said member to actuate the blade, the means on said member being spaced radially and circumferentially thereof, and the means on said element being movably mounted thereon for adjustment in a direction radially of said element to engage any of said means.

16. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a rufing blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an element connected to said blade to actuate the latter, and said member and element having interengaging means thereon to actuate said element by the rotation of said member, and the means on said member being spaced radially and circumferentially thereof to vary the number of strokes of the blade during a complete revolution of said member.

17. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a ruiiiing blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, an element connected to said blade to actuate the latter, and said member and element having interengaging means thereon to actuate said element by the rotation of said member, and the means on said element being movable with respect to said member in a direction parallel to the axis of the latter to be withdrawn from engagement therewith.

18. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a rufliing blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement from the needle bar of the machine, means for connecting said blade to said member for actuation thereby, said means comprising a plurality of series of openings in said member and an element connected to the blade and carrying a part adapted to be selectively received in the openings of a predetermined one of said series, said part being movable toward and away from said member in a direction parallel to the axis of the latter.

19. In an attachment for sewing machines, a frame, a ruiiiing blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement*I from the needle bar of the machine, means for connecting said blade to said member for actuation thereby, said means comprising a plurality of series of openings in said member and an element connected to the blade and carrying a part adapted to be selectively received in the openings of a predetermined one of said series, said part being movable toward and away from said member in a direction parallel to the axis of the latter, and means for withdrawing said part to permit said rotatable member to advance Without moving the blade.

20. In an attachment for sewing machines, a

y frame, a ruilling blade carried thereby, a member rotatably mounted on the frame, means for rotating said member in a step-by-step movement on the upstroke of the needle bar of the machine,

means for connecting said blade to said member' for actuation thereby, said means comprising a plurality 0f series of openings in said member and an element connected to the blade and carrying a part adapted to be selectively received in the openings of a predetermined one of said series, said part being movable toward and away from said member in a direction parallel to the axis of the latter, and means for withdrawing said part on the downstroke of the needle bar to permit a return movement of the blade when said rotatable member is idle.

HERBERT H. RUSSELL. 

